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Netting New Knowledge
Photograph by Colleen and Keith Begg
As part of the first long-term study of honey badgers in the wild, researchers Keith (above) and Colleen Begg spent nearly 6,000 hours in southern Africa's Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park documenting the lives of these small but ferocious carnivores. Captured badgers were briefly sedated so that measurements and small tissue samples could be taken.
Twenty-five animals were fitted with radio collars that allowed them to be tracked over time (all of the collars were removed at the end of the study). The Beggs discovered that individual honey badgers cover enormous amounts of ground. Females use upward of 50 square miles (130 square kilometers) as they search for food and shelter. Adult males patrol home ranges that can be as large as 300 square miles (800 square kilometers).
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